I, and I am sure there are many others, have had enough of getting wind energy shoved down our throats in Hartsville. Our wind laws are for ALL the residents and taxpayers’ protection.

John A. Bowles, in my opinion, seems to be full of his own self importance and could care less about the other residents and taxpayers who live here. He is always looking for corruption or wrongdoing in others, but maybe he should check out his own backyard first. It appears that when he wants something, he will use deception, exaggeration and insinuation to get it. Mr. Bowles seems quite adept at twisting situations and actual fact and make it work for him. Mr. Bowles and his wife Carol sued the town a number of years ago and all charges were dismissed. It cost the taxpayers around $10,000. It certainly tells you a lot about his character and moral compass, doesn’t it?

John A. Bowles is a deputy town clerk. So why is he peddling a pro-wind petition? He is mailing his petitions to out-of-town landowners and enclosing an extremely deceptive letter (which I have obtained) to gain the signatures he wants. He has been misleading people on what his petition is actually about when knocking on doors. Isn’t that against the law? Public officials are supposed to be neutral and not subvert or undermine their own town board. He knowingly has taken a position as a public official when he had a wind contract, which is a definite conflict of interest. He was boldly handing out pro-wind t-shirts at our April town board meeting, too. All of these things, he has done for his own financial gain and self interest.

What is our town supervisor, Mike Palmer, doing about this? Is Mr. Palmer making Mr. Bowles cease or making him step down? I haven’t seen any evidence of it yet. Something sure stinks here in Hartsville. Secret meetings, secret petitions, and other suspect activities make it quite apparent that some colluding and conspiring is occurring to push a wind agenda.

Mr. Palmer has previously been confronted about his Dec. 8, 2015 meeting with six reps of Nextera at Club 57. In my opinion, he impersonated a public official. He was discussing Hartsville and its interests to host wind before he was sworn in as town supervisor in January 2016. I’m positive he didn’t have a release from every taxpayer, resident, or town board members allowing him to represent the town at that time. Does Mr. Palmer, who is also a businessman in the area, realize how this looks to his customers and potential customers? What are they going to think of his character or lack thereof? How are we supposed to support and work with a supervisor who doesn’t support his residents, his town board, their concerns, or care about local law?

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